79 ailing children being sent to Germany

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) on Tuesday announced it was sending a new group of 79 ailing Afghan children for treatment to Germany.

ARCS spokesperson Sarma Afzali told Pajhwok Afghan News the children would be flown to Germany under the 1989 agreement between the Peace Village International and the ARCS. Treatment of the selected 79 children was possible in Germany.

Afzali said: “The treatment will continue until the children become healthy. Additionally, families of these children will be trained on how to take care of their children after they return.”

She said doctors with the Peace Village visited Afghanistan twice a year to meet ailing Afghan children, diagnose their diseases and recommend them for treatment in Germany.

She said the treatment of each child cost €6,000 and more than 4,000 children had so far been sent by the ARCS to Germany.

Hasibullah, an 11-year-old resident of Qaisar district of Faryab, who has one of his legs broken, told Pajhwok Afghan News he had undergone five surgeries, but to no avail.

Hasibullah is among the selected children to be sent to Germany for treatment. He said on return home from Germany recovered, he would join his school again. He wanted to become an engineer in future.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross provided the ARCS with 17 Land Cruisers and 15 million Canadian dollars in assistance, with each vehicle valued at $500,000.

ARCS deputy head Muhammad Zahir Walizada told a press conference the donated vehicles would be used during natural disasters in volatile provinces. The Canadian aid would be used for capacity-building of ARCS staff over the next five years, he said.